Two police officers died from head and neck injuries after their marked vehicle was hit by a car going the wrong way down the A66, an inquest opening has heard. PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, died alongside five occupants of a VW Passat in the head-on smash in the early hours of Saturday morning.Inquests into their deaths were opened and adjourned at Teesside Coroner's Court today. In short, consecutive hearings, coroner Paul Appleton said PC Blades was identified by his wife, and PC Clough by his partner.The provisional cause of death was said to be head and neck injuries for PC Blades, and neck injuries for PC Clough.Mr Appleton told the hearing that 'all occupants of both vehicles were sadly pronounced dead at the scene'.'At this stage it is understood that there had been a police pursuit of the Volkswagen Passat,' he added. 'It entered the A66 carriageway against the flow of traffic, at which stage the pursuit was aborted. PC Matthew Blades, a father of two, was killed when his police vehicle was struck head-on by a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough PC Tom Clough also died in the crash, which occurred around 10 seconds after a police pursuit of the Volkswagen was called off'A short time after [...] the Volkswagen Passat collided with a police vehicle, which had not been directly involved in the prior pursuit.'In the afternoon, inquests will open into the deaths of Cole Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak – who were in the Passat and all pronounced dead at the scene. The group of five youths had been involved in a police pursuit prior to the crash, with two police cars chasing their 'suspicious' vehicle.On Tuesday, the Daily Mail revealed the chase was allegedly sparked by a rival gang, who used a Volvo XC60 to ram into the home of Cole's father at 3am on Saturday – just 40 minutes before the devastating smash.It is understood that the house belonging to Gye Worthy was rammed twice by the Volvo, which deliberately reversed into the front window, causing extensive damage.Within minutes, the VW Passat with his son Cole and four friends inside was racing around the streets of Middlesbrough in pursuit of the Volvo.Four of the youngsters killed in the Passat had extensive criminal records – 37 convictions among them – including for drug offences, assault and robbery.Cleveland Police concluded that Saturday's disaster may have been a symptom of a wave of organised crime plaguing Teesside.Cleveland Police on Tuesday confirmed arrests including a 16-year-old boy as well as four men aged 18, 21, 23 and 55 – taking the total number detained up to 17.The 12 people previously detained included four held on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group and four on suspicion of possessing a firearm. Makai Saddington, one of the five killed in the Volkswagen, posted videos on TikTok of him being chased by police and was awaiting trial for racially abusing and assaulting officers Close friends Theo Rae (left) and Cole Robert Worthy both died in the crash on Saturday Michael Robert Cahill was one of the five in the VWLast night, Middlesbrough residents feared the town would descend into carnage if gangland attacks intensified after a seven-year-old girl was killed in a house fire - amid concerns the blaze was a revenge attack linked to the five youths who died in the crash. Two men, aged 31 and 23, were arrested on suspicion of murder after Valentina Foster and her aunt Natalie McDonald, 34, died in the fire in Grangetown on Wednesday.Cleveland Police said it was 'keeping an open mind' regarding the cause of the fire but could not 'rule out any links to wider organised crime at this time'.Middlesbrough has the highest crime rate in England excluding central London, and rival criminal groups have been spreading fear among residents.Today, residents in South Bank nearby woke up to news of another property being rammed by a car. A terraced home on Steele Crescent was attacked - with the front garden wall hit in the early hours of this morning, leaving bricks and a metal fence across the grass.A neighbour said: 'It happened at about 12.40am. My daughter saw it. She said a car kept going backwards and forwards into the wall over and over.'People on the outside think it's scary but it doesn't bother me. I've grown up here and it's normal. There's always something going on here.'